Brenda Ernst’s team came up one end short.
The hometown team made the finals of the BC Club Championships, hosted inside the Quesnel Curling Centre, but after giving up three in the first end, were playing catch up.
Eventually the team skipped by Penny Shantz out of the Parksville Curling Club ran Ernst out of rocks in the eighth and final end, winning by a final score of 6-3.
“Our team hadn’t played at a high level, so it was good to bring them, and introduce them to competition,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Shantz represented Canada at the 1988 Olympics, where curling was a demonstration sport, and has competed in the Senior championships since 2012.
READ MORE: Quesnel welcomes top club curlers for provincial championships
“Part of this was to practice for the senior event,” she said “We’ve got a team, so it was opportunity to throw lots of rocks and get tuned up for that as well.”
Ernst will also be heading to the Curl BC Senior Championship later this month, alongside third Dana Johansen, second Penni Yamamoto and lead Shari Needham.
Shantz’s team was rounded out by third Tina Chestnut, second Nicole Guizzo, and replacement lead Nancy Betteridge. Betteridge joined the team after a player won the Canadian Senior Golf championship and had to back out.
“She had good draw weight, she played amazing,” Shantz said of Betteridge.
Shantz only lost one game throughout the tournament, a 12-0 defeat to a non-playoff team in the second draw of the tournament.
Both men’s and women’s sportsmanship awards went to Quesnel players. Quesnel skip Shayne Yamamoto won the award for the men, with Needham winning for the women.
In the men’s event, a team skipped by Darren Frycz out of the Langley Curling Centre, with third Mike Sitter, second Don Monk and lead Steve Claxton prevailed in the final.
The team won a qualifier on Saturday night, winning the Sunday morning final against a team out of the Delta Thistle Curling Club skipped by Chris Gomes.
Heading into the final end, the game was tied, and Frycz was without the hammer. In the key shot of the championship, Frycz was able to make a draw around his own centre-guard with his first skip stone.
When Gomes missed the runback with his first, Frycz placed another guard leaving Gomes a difficult come around to win the championship which fell a little short.
“That last end set up really nice,” Frycz said. “We played it textbook when you’re without hammer. Everyone threw excellent that end.”
Frycz won the club championship provincials in 2014, and has been searching to win again ever since.
Both teams praised the ice-work done by Quesnel curling club manager Dave Plant and other volunteers.
“I appreciate Quesnel so much for everything they did,” Shantz said. “The ice was amazing, like, really good.”
The two winning teams will represent B.C. at the club nationals in Ottawa in late-November.
READ MORE: ‘The work begins now’ — Quesnel’s 2024 BC Winter Games bid successful
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: cassidy.dankochik@quesnelobserver.com
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cassidy.dankochik@quesnelobserver.com
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